Anyone using any Phonak wireless accessories?

Well, I wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t attended a talk about new technology coming to hearing aids at my local HLAA chapter meeting. The speaker, Larry Medwetsky, was a retired full professor at Gallaudet University here in Washington DC, and his profession required him to stay abreast of these developments. The tech industry is not doing outreach to our community of hearing-loss consumers, and neither are the government regulators who are developing the standards for uniform application of the technology all over the country, so your hearing aids will gain you access everywhere coast to coast.

Think about the difference between cable TV, which requires the physical installation of ugly cables all over your house and in your rooms, versus streaming, which requires only a modem and router in a corner, plugged into an outlet, and a little thing you hook onto your TV. That is the difference between telecoil, which requires physical installation of a cable, and Bluetooth. Advocating for telecoil is like advocating for cable TV.

No one is installing cable anymore, all my friends have dropped their expensive subscriptions and pulled out the wires. While cable is not exactly going to disappear, just like hard-wired telephones aren’t going to totally disappear, these are technologies of the past. So don’t invest in the past. Look toward the future. Bluetooth is the future.

I was reading about LE Bluetooth and eventually Auracast.
As much as I like my new Signia IX hearing aids with the telecoil technology I might go back to the Styletto IX hearing aids. They are more glasses friendly because of their sleek design. They don’t have telecoil but availability in this country doesn’t seem to be catching on like it is in Europe.
Your thoughts or anyone’s thoughts are certainly welcome.
Thanks.

There are thousands of theaters, libraries, museums, government institutions, etc. with assistive listening systems (hearing loop, FM, infrared). They are required by the ADA. The only way to connect your hearing aids to the systems and receive a clear sound using your hearing aid prescription is to use your telecoil. I'd highly recommend including a telecoil in your decision.

I have not heard of any in Denver. I appreciate your input.

Hi @daveshaw

If you go to www . hearingloop . org you can find
- a list of all the places in the country that have hearing loops
- A long list types of places that must have assistive listening (scroll down about 2/3 on the ADA webpage)
- and webpages to describe how to use the borrowed equipment and how to use your telecoil

If a facility doesn't have a hearing loop, they probably have an FM system. So in Denver, some of the places have FM systems: Empower Field, Comedy Works, DCPA to name a few.

There are usually very few infrared systems. Often the courts use infrared.

There is an active HLAA Chapter in Denver. You may want to query them about your interest in venues that provide communication access.

Denver Chapter
Details: Meets every 3rd Saturday at 1 p.m., September-June
Koelbel Library (Arapahoe Libraries), 5955 South Holly Street
Centennial, Colorado 80121
Contact/s:
hladenver@gmail.com
720-295-8581

healthnut76….I have Phonak Bluetooth hearing aids that are 1 year old. I love Bluetooth for pairing to my phone for calls and music. I would agree that restaurant settings do not work well for me either. If I try adjusting background noise it always affects speech volume. I try to place myself on outside walls and have the person directly across from me. Phonak makes a microphone system that I tried using with my last set of hearing aids which was tied in with the Compilot II necklace piece but did not see great results with that either. I am still learning how to deal with these situations. Hope this helps!

Scott,

FWIW, I was told by my audi that I should sit so that the 'noise' is behind me, as my HAs have several microphones. For a 'restaurant' setting, they are programmed to focus more on what is in front of me and provide less amplification of sounds behind me.

JustTodd